Electrical problem

So I started my 95 explorer yesterday morning, went to work, did some
mid-day errands, after work went to store, came out of the store and
it wouldn't start, no power. So I'm thinking it's that dodgy battery
terminal (-) connection. I get something out of the back, tap it a
little bit and the power comes back. I try to start it, but when then
starter engages the power goes out again. I repeat this thing and it
happens again. Thinking the cable is bad, I get the jumpers and
connect the terminal to the power steering bracket in the hope of
getting a better ground connection. It doesn't help. A guy comes to
help and gives me a jump. It starts with the jump, but when we
disconnect the jumpers it dies, the whole system goes down. A tap on
the terminal powers up the car again but still no start. The battery
is a few weeks old and seems to be fully charged. The alternator was
replaced last year. Anybody have any ideas what to do? I'm thinking
that this could just be the battery cable, but once the car is started
shouldn't it keep going even if the battery is disconnected?

Any help will be appreciated.

> wrote in message
...
> So I started my 95 explorer yesterday morning, went to work, did some
> mid-day errands, after work went to store, came out of the store and
> it wouldn't start, no power. So I'm thinking it's that dodgy battery
> terminal (-) connection. I get something out of the back, tap it a
> little bit and the power comes back. I try to start it, but when then
> starter engages the power goes out again. I repeat this thing and it
> happens again. Thinking the cable is bad, I get the jumpers and
> connect the terminal to the power steering bracket in the hope of
> getting a better ground connection. It doesn't help. A guy comes to
> help and gives me a jump. It starts with the jump, but when we
> disconnect the jumpers it dies, the whole system goes down. A tap on
> the terminal powers up the car again but still no start. The battery
> is a few weeks old and seems to be fully charged. The alternator was
> replaced last year. Anybody have any ideas what to do? I'm thinking
> that this could just be the battery cable, but once the car is started
> shouldn't it keep going even if the battery is disconnected?
>
> Any help will be appreciated.

To me it sounds like (probably) a bad battery. Just because it's new
doesn't mean it's necessarily good. How do you know it's fully charged?
Did you check each cell with a hydrometer? What is the battery voltage with
the engine off? What is it with the engine on? Do you have a voltmeter on
the dash, and, if so, does it go up when the engine is running or does it
only go down? If you charge the battery for a while will the engine start
and run for a while and then die? That might indicate a bad alternator.

I had a battery on my '92 that would run the headlights for hours but would
not start the car. One of the cells appeared to be shorted out.

The 91-94s had battery cable problems but I don't know if they put different
cables on the '95s. When you say "dodgy" terminal is it all corroded? Did
you clean and tighten it?

On Nov 23, 12:42 pm, "Ulysses" /> wrote:
> > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > So I started my 95 explorer yesterday morning, went to work, did some
> > mid-day errands, after work went to store, came out of the store and
> > it wouldn't start, no power. So I'm thinking it's that dodgy battery
> > terminal (-) connection. I get something out of the back, tap it a
> > little bit and the power comes back. I try to start it, but when then
> > starter engages the power goes out again. I repeat this thing and it
> > happens again. Thinking the cable is bad, I get the jumpers and
> > connect the terminal to the power steering bracket in the hope of
> > getting a better ground connection. It doesn't help. A guy comes to
> > help and gives me a jump. It starts with the jump, but when we
> > disconnect the jumpers it dies, the whole system goes down. A tap on
> > the terminal powers up the car again but still no start. The battery
> > is a few weeks old and seems to be fully charged. The alternator was
> > replaced last year. Anybody have any ideas what to do? I'm thinking
> > that this could just be the battery cable, but once the car is started
> > shouldn't it keep going even if the battery is disconnected?
>
> > Any help will be appreciated.
>
> To me it sounds like (probably) a bad battery. Just because it's new
> doesn't mean it's necessarily good. How do you know it's fully charged?
> Did you check each cell with a hydrometer? What is the battery voltage with
> the engine off? What is it with the engine on? Do you have a voltmeter on
> the dash, and, if so, does it go up when the engine is running or does it
> only go down? If you charge the battery for a while will the engine start
> and run for a while and then die? That might indicate a bad alternator.
>
> I had a battery on my '92 that would run the headlights for hours but would
> not start the car. One of the cells appeared to be shorted out.
>
> The 91-94s had battery cable problems but I don't know if they put different
> cables on the '95s. When you say "dodgy" terminal is it all corroded? Did
> you clean and tighten it?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

The problem turned out to be the battery cable. There was corrosion
but it had been cleaned, the clamp was having problems.
I knew it wasn't the battery itself because it was able to power up
eveything in the car and because all electricals (including spak
plugs) failed when the engine was started and the jumper cables were
removed. A bad battery wouldn't shut down the engine after the car had
started.
My theory is that there was some sort of computer sensor that detected
too much resistance along that cable and shut everything down to
prevent fire.